3 Tips to Choose the Right Manikins for Medical Simulation with SEM Trainers

Simulation brings a lot of new benefits to medical training, like hands-on training, a risk-free environment, and building a number of different skills. And with the medical simulation industry growing, now, there are more kinds of manikins than ever. But with so many options available, how do instructors decide which ones to get for their simulation labs?

How to Choose the Right Manikins for Your Medical Simulation Lab?

Although there are a myriad of simulators available, ultimately, there are 3 main factors to consider that will help you pick the right manikins for Medical Simulation to fulfill your needs- features, cost, and fidelity.

1.It should fulfill the purpose

The first thing to think about is what you will want to use the manikins- which skills you will want to teach using the manikin. For example, if you will be teaching airway management, these are the questions to ask: Will you need both adult and child manikins? Will you need the defibrillation features? Will you need intubation functionality? (..and so on) You might also want to avoid overspending on a manikin with too many extra features that will end up never being used. What is the point of splurging on a manikin that you will only use to 40% of its potential?

Let’s take another example. Suppose you need the students to learn how to place a catheter and get proper fluid return. The KERi Complete will be enough for that. But if you want them to learn more comprehensive diagnostics and patient care, you will either need to go for the Advanced KERi which is equipped with an IV and blood pressure training arm, or complement the KERi Complete with a training arm purchased separately (and then spend the rest of the money on other things for the simulation lab).

2.Consider your budgets

While we would all always like to get our hands on all the state-of-the-art, high-tech and the most high-fidelity manikins for training, in reality, it is not always possible to do so. (But fortunately, at SEM Trainers, we bring you dozens of high-quality, reliable manikins to choose from that will suit your needs). More often than not, we have to work with limited budgets due to limited funding available. That is why instead of splurging all your money on a couple extraordinary manikins with way too many features, it might be a good idea to figure out your requirements and distribute your budget across those. When looking for manikins, ask yourself questions like- Do I need all these features or will the one with fewer features do just as well? How much fidelity do I really need for teaching this particular skill? There may also be upfront or annual fees for add-ons like training, installation, warranties, and service fees to account for, so it’s always best to consider the entire expense before making a choice.

3.Think about the fidelity-cost trade-off

Manikins come in different fidelity levels. High-fidelity manikins look and behave more realistically compared to the low-fidelity ones. Some skills require the scenario to be more realistic and believable- they may be better off using those high-fidelity manikins that offer a higher degree of realism. But high-fidelity manikins are far more expensive than the low-fidelity ones. And while it can’t always be a bad thing to go for the high-fidelity manikin everytime, the truth is that you have a budget to stick to. Ultimately, you have to make a trade-off between the level of fidelity offered and the cost of a manikin. Sometimes, you will have to make do with the level of fidelity that is just good enough for the purpose.

So, if you are an instructor, by keeping in mind the purpose of the manikin (which will decide the features you will need), the budget you have available (which will be best distributed according to your needs), and the level of fidelity you can afford at a convenient cost, you will be able to make the right decisions about the manikins to get for your simulation lab.

Check out the range of manikins offered by SEM Trainers:

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5 Reasons Why Simulation Training is Better | Healthcare

The benefits of incorporating simulation training in teaching specific medical skills are manifold. But what are the 5 biggest advantages that make it a viable option that delivers superior results to using the traditional teaching paradigm alone? Let’s find out.

What is Simulation Training?

Simulation training is the process of reproducing realistic environments and situations (often with the use of lifelike simulators/manikins and trainers/medical skills) to create a hands-on learning experience for a learner to practice certain skills. Simulation has been adopted into various fields as a method of learning. For example, pilots first learn to fly a plane on a simulator. Today, it is an essential teaching tool in various industries like aviation, military, and healthcare.

5 Things that Make it Better than Traditional Learning

There are many more benefits to simulation learning other than the fact that it provides the opportunity for hands-on learning. Here are 5 reasons why it is effective (and better):

It provides a safe environment and avoids risk to real patients

While simulation provides an excellent hands-on learning opportunity (theoretical learning isn’t enough for some skills), it does so in a safe environment. This means that students can explore. That they are free to make mistakes and are given the chance to learn from their mistakes rather than being reprimanded for them or the mistakes translating into real-life blunders. This is a rather important attribute of the learning process- the privilege to be able to make mistakes and learn from them. And when students feel free to explore, they inarguably learn better. On top of that, it means that real patients will not be put at risk, as it is when learners practice on real patients- one mistake and a lot could go wrong. Plus, not everyone is comfortable with being attended by a fresher-simulation also helps avoid that.

It builds team skills (among many others)

Usually, in the real-life clinical setting, professionals don’t work alone. A whole team of individuals and a whole lot of work goes into saving lives. Individuals must work together to make the best decisions possible in time to save a patient’s life and deliver optimal treatment quality. Apart from building skills like decision-making skills and the ability to think on your feet, simulation in healthcare training helps build communication and collaboration skills and the ability to work in a team. It also helps with team leading, team building, and crisis resource management skills. People don’t just start working together if placed in the same room; the ability to work efficiently as part of a team is important.

It builds confidence AND improves the quality of patient care delivered

By bridging the gap between theory and practice, simulation training is able to instill a kind of confidence in learners that enables them to go ahead and deliver excellent quality care as they step into the profession. And confidence is also directly linked to competence. A confident professional will be able to smartly deal with any situation- like when interacting with patients or their families, or when there is a tough decision to make. So when learners start to develop confidence, it becomes easier for them to start taking their own decisions and operating by their own autonomy.

It provides real-time feedback

Not only does simulation training and medical skills bridge the gap between theory and practice, through the use of lifelike simulators and trainers with monitors that display real-time feedback, it is made easier to assess the student’s performance. But this isn’t useful for the instructor alone. It means that the student can evaluate his own performance as he works on the patient (manikin or trainer) and evolve to make better decisions during the process. This is a benefit that is not present with the traditional training method. It is one of the things that makes simulation training so effective in healthcare.

It gives learners an idea of what to expect

While a simulated environment is exciting and comfortable, it also prepares learners for what to expect in a real clinical setting. With high-fidelity simulation, there are some distractions as would be in a real hospital. There may be too much noise, a bad smell, or a number of other big and small disturbances that can easily distract someone working on a critical task and result in serious procedural errors. It can also worsen performance and increase the number of attempts and the amount of time taken to do something. Being exposed to such distractions at an early learning stage can accustom the learner to think on their feet and perform better despite said distractions, effectively preventing serious errors.

With such obvious benefits, simulation training greatly outweighs the performance benefits offered by traditional learning alone, and is an indispensable asset in healthcare education.

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Top 10 Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) Medical Simulators You’ll Need | SEM Trainers

Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) are guidelines for providing immediate medical care for life-threatening injuries on the battlefield. Training for TCCC skills can be provided in 3 phases (care under fire, tactical field care, and tactical evaluation care). Students learn the management of trauma care and blast related injuries, and handle hemorrhage control and airway management. Learners cannot be assigned to real patients for handling traumatic combat injuries, but with the help of hyper-realistic simulators, they get all the practice they might need!

Here are some of our powerful TCCC simulators:

  1. Casualty Care Rescue Randy – powered by Strategic Operations Hyper-Realistic® technology

The three most preventable causes of death are massive bleeding, airway obstruction, and tension pneumothorax. This one is a hyper-realistic full-body manikin that is perfect for training on the procedures that treat these 3 conditions. This manikin holds 3-4 liters of blood and simulates a 2-3 psi blood pressure.

  1. Tactical Combat Casualty Care Simulator with Major Vascular Injuries – TCCS 2

This full-body simulator is great for realistically training combat trauma care for major vascular injuries for hemorrhage management and airway control using common wound patterns of combat. Durable in the toughest training scenarios, this simulator is water resistant and great for indoor and outdoor training for the military, government forces, medical rescue, and private security. It is remote-controlled and simple to operate, and comes with an instructor interface tablet with simulation logs and self-diagnosis. Use it for high threat extraction training and realistic TCCC field training scenarios.

  1. Tactical Combat Casualty Care Simulator with Traumatic Amputations – TCCS 3

A full-body TCCC simulator for training combat trauma care for traumatic amputation injuries that are above the left elbow and above the left knee along with an amputation at the upper right thigh above the tourniquet line. Highly durable in the toughest training scenarios and water resistant, this simulator is great for indoor and outdoor training. With its lifelike tissue, it is great for training of hemorrhage management and airway control, high threat extraction training, and realistic TCCC field training scenarios.

  1. Tactical Combat Casualty Care Simulator with Traumatic Amputations and Gunshot Wounds – TCCS 4

This full-body simulator is great for training for multiple traumatic gunshot wounds (like sucking chest wounds) and amputation injuries above the left elbow and the left knee. Like the others, this is highly durable and water resistant, and great for training of hemorrhage management, airway control, high threat extraction training, and realistic TCCC field training scenarios.

  1. Tactical Combat Casualty Care Simulator with Abdominal Evisceration – TCCS 5

A full-body simulator good for training combat trauma care for abdominal wounds with evisceration and a traumatic amputation above the right wrist. Highly durable and water resistant, and great for external hemorrhage and airway control, high threat extraction training, and realistic TCCC field training scenarios.

  1. Tactical Combat Casualty Care Simulator with Gunshot Wounds – TCCS 1

Another full-body TCCC simulator for combat trauma care training of gunshot wound management, hemorrhage management, airway management, and trauma management related to the casualty’s breathing and circulation. Highly durable and water resistant, and great for hemorrhage management, airway control, high threat extraction training, and realistic TCCC field training scenarios.

  1. Tactical Hemorrhage Control Trainer – THCT

This one is a full-sized, remotely-activated simulator for point-of-injury, tactical medicine training for law enforcement and first responders. With realistic and anatomically-accurate soft tissue, durability, and water resistance, this simulator has remotely-activated pulsatile bleeding, multiple injuries like gunshot wounds, stab wounds, and crushing injuries, and an amputation on the left leg above the knee for tourniquet application.

  1. CPR Module for REALITi360 Patient Monitor Simulators

This one is a CPR module with detailed real-time visual feedback on CPR quality. A sensor keeps track of the rate, depth, and release of each compression, and the system evaluates CPR time, correct chest compressions, pressure depth status bar, pressure posture, and pressure CPR rhythm. The system can be worn on the wrist, deployed on a manikin, or even placed inside a manikin.

  1. Hemorrhage Control Arm Trainer P102

A trainer for hemorrhage control on the upper extremity with realistic wound and bleeding simulation. Affordable and great for training of bleeding control and management of traumatic arm injuries. It has a deep laceration/stab wound, a large caliber gunshot wound, and a junctional wound in the shoulder.

  1. Simulated Patient Monitor – REALITi Plus

A patient monitor that is a smart, integrated, and modular simulation ecosystem and lets medical educators run multiple scenarios – from basic to sophisticated. It is mobile, so you can conduct training anywhere- whether it’s an ambulance, a helicopter, a hospital, or a skills lab. 

For meticulous tactical combat casualty care training with the help of simulators, call us at 02632 257259 or drop us a mail at sem@semtrainers.com today!

Trauma Manikins – Surgical Procedures Involved & Application

Traumatic injuries have a great chance of becoming the third-largest cause of death around the world. Trauma is no different than any other illnesses and injuries that arise anywhere near the top ten list. The people working in emergency care make constant efforts to improve the care provided to traumatic patients. For that many other metrics have also been added for them as an evolution of care.

In a dynamic condition, patients can be treated with the help of healthcare simulation. Also, medical simulation is used to deliver, record and assess the applications of life-saving interventions and treatments in a high frequency and low consequence environment. This has resulted in the development of a class of manikins that are called ‘Trauma Manikins’.

Introduction To Trauma Manikins

Trauma Manikin is a surgical simulation manikin used for medical professionals, to teach them surgical skills, including the American College of Surgeons’ Advanced Trauma Of Life Support (ATLS) program. At the time of combat situations, advanced surgical skills training is provided through Trauma Manikins. These surgical trainers are preferably used at the place of a simulation trainer by both instructor and medical students for teaching emergency trauma surgical skills.

As for any manikin-based clinical simulation, there are many manufacturers that design ‘Trauma Manikins’ based on the traumatic situation they are going to be used for the demonstration. The educators and administrators have a tendency to pick a manikin that has the label ‘Trauma Care’ as according to them, that particular kind must be the best to meet their individual needs. Not only this, but there are some manikins which are specially endorsed by different organisations to be the only manikin that is suitable comprehensively for a specific course. As it becomes important for the instructors to have the specific manikins for the specific courses and not the ones that do not meet their needs.

Surgical Procedures

Basically, a ‘Trauma Manikin’ can be used to simulate the needed experience or skill set of a particular profession which is related to the care that a medical professional is considered to deliver in a scenario that involves traumatic injury. These manikins may include any or all of the following simulation healthcare capabilities and are used to train on the following surgical procedures:

  • Cricothyrotomy
  • Percutaneous tracheostomy
  • Needle decompression
  • Chest tube insertion
  • Pericardiocentesis
  • Diagnostic peritoneal lavage
  • Intravenous cutdown
  • Humans like weight and issues related to musculoskeletal stabilization and transfer
  • Articulable head and neck to allow for cervical spine manipulation and immobilization
  • Haemorrhage control including exhibiting haemorrhage, ability to cease blood flow with well-aimed direct pressure, tourniquet, or surgical intervention
  • Airway intervention including intubation or other advanced airway devices, needle and/or surgical cricothyrotomy, tracheostomy, insertion of NPA and OPA, and other less common airway interventions
  • Needle decompression of the chest
  • Chest tube maintenance, and monitoring
  • Surgical interventions for traumatic injuries
  • Various ultrasound examinations
  • Simulated open and closed musculoskeletal injuries
  • Amputations and various levels of simulated bleeding
  • Additional simulation of associated signs and symptoms related to patient presentation after a traumatic injury
  • Often these manikins are also “designed or improved to be hard-wearing or shock-resistant” in order to be used in environments that mirror more common points of injury sites.

There are various kinds of manufacturers who have their own way of providing varying degrees of simulated skills through trauma manikins and combinations of the above and other different capabilities to satisfy the demands at different levels of providers.

Some specific examples that do not include trainers but only consist of manikins that are specifically built for traumatic situations, being different from other manikins that are able to simulate some trauma skills in addition to their normal capabilities:

Nasco Healthcare

Trucorp company

3B Scientific

OEI tactical casualty simulators

Simulaids

Application in Trauma Simulation

There is a trend both in peer-reviewed literature and in the industry investment in trauma simulation – The capability to simulate the trauma scenarios that are more and more complex and realistic with the use of high fidelity, high technology, manikin based simulation.

This has given rise to the increased usage and coordination of technical and non-technical skills in the delivery of simulated patient care. The function and coordination of this care eventually lead to more research being done on how to accomplish the topmost level of quality and efficiency in the delivery of trauma care.

The Role of Fidelity in Simulation Training

Fidelity comes from the Latin word fidēlis, meaning faithful or loyal. Generally speaking, fidelity is the degree of exactness with which something is copied or reproduced.

What is Fidelity in Simulation Training?

We have always emphasized on the role and benefits of using simulation for training aspiring doctors and nurses. Simulators are devices that imitate the real-life medical environment, but in a safe way, so learners can practice with real-time feedback but without the risks involved.

In simulation, fidelity is a term that denotes the degree to which the simulator replicates reality. Simply speaking, it is how well the simulator is able to imitate a real-life medical environment, or how close it gets to a real scenario. So, a simulator that depicts a real scenario really well would be termed “high-fidelity”, and one that does not so much, “low-fidelity”. A low-fidelity simulation is less realistic than a high-fidelity one.

Levels of Fidelity in Simulation

In 1990, Miller sketched out a pyramid depicting how a person’s actions are built upon his knowledge, competence, and performance. An increased level of fidelity in simulation may correspond to a transformation from knowledge to competence, performance, and ultimately, action. 

Miller's Pyramid

We observe the following levels of fidelity in simulation:

  • Low-Fidelity Simulation: This level of simulation helps build knowledge. This may not be very realistic, but it takes away the stress of the situation and lets the learner focus on learning the skill. Take static models and 2D displays for example.
  • Mid-Fidelity Simulation: This one is a bit more realistic and helps build competence in the learner. Take, for example, full-body manikins that imitate real heart and breathing sounds. Learners can use these to train on procedures like IV insertions, injections, and NG tube insertions.
  • High-Fidelity Simulation: These are the most realistic simulations- the closest to real life. Take, for example, full-body computerized manikins that can talk and run pre-programmed scenarios.

Types of Fidelity in Simulation

Fidelity can be physical, psychological, and conceptual. Physical fidelity can be perceived by the senses. If your manikin’s skin feels like real skin, and body parts react and bleed like they would on a real patient, it increases the degree of physical fidelity. Task-trainers, or lifelike manikin simulators representing a part of the body can help train on specific skills and focus on functional fidelity. And when they allow haptic feedback, that increases the degree of physical fidelity. Moulage, or applying makeup to mock injury, can engage learners’ sensory perceptions.

If you introduce some realistic background noises to the simulated setting, you will increase the physical fidelity, consequently also increasing the psychological fidelity as it elicits an emotional response from the learner and raises stress levels. If all aspects of your simulated scenario accurately represent how they would be in a real scenario, such that it makes sense to the learner, you have high conceptual fidelity.

Beyond the three major classifications, fidelity may also be classified as functional fidelity, which is the dynamic interaction between the learner and the task at hand, and sociological fidelity, which is how the interactions between the participants affect the level of realism.

So What Degree of Fidelity Do We Really Need?

Ideally, we want all simulators to be high-fidelity, but limited procurement budgets make that hard to achieve. So, often, we must settle for a trade-off between the degree of fidelity and the cost of procurement, or “mid-fidelity”. In high-stress environments, the costs may be monetary as well as loss of human life. We will discuss various scenarios ahead in the discourse.

Scenarios to Imagine

Imagine this. A well-established gaming company comes up with an exciting idea for a new game, and the developers must build it soon. A high-fidelity videogame would be meticulous with the graphics, the gameplay, and the story. A game that would manage to ignore even one of these aspects could fail to create an immersive, realistic gaming experience. This would result in a failure of the game to launch successfully, and possibly cost the company millions of dollars, along with ruining its reputation. Here, the cost would be monetary.

In the application of aircraft or driving simulation, higher fidelity would be required. Poor training and poor decisions made under high-stress, emergency situations in real-life could result in fatal outcomes. In emergency situations on an actual plane, you would expect your pilots to make the right decisions at the right time regardless of the immense stress of an urgent, unfamiliar situation. This cannot be made possible without training in high-fidelity simulation.

If we take the military for example, soldiers may be trained for combat in a high-fidelity simulation. Such training must prepare the soldier for making resource-aware decisions and train them in dealing with a variety of unexpected situations. Training for this in low-fidelity simulations may not prepare a soldier for combat, but create the illusion of competence.

Ultimately, the degree of fidelity exercised in simulation can impact the levels of confidence and anxiety. If learners practice in low-fidelity environments, they might incorrectly assume confidence. Being met with unexpected developments in-field can render a state of disillusionment and disbelief in the training, revealing that they were, in fact, unprepared, and further leading to possibly catastrophic consequences.

However, it is also true that learners and educators are biased towards HFS (High-Fidelity Simulation), and that higher levels of fidelity may increase the cognitive load on the learner to the point of overwhelming him, effectively decreasing learning. Maybe beginners would be better off starting with low-fidelity simulation and then move up as they gain experience. Low-fidelity simulation may also be preferred when training on skills that call for repeated practice.

For More Detailed Information Contact Us on sem@semtrainers.com or +91-88495 63724 .

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